Iran reports major surge in transit volume

Iran has reported an increase of about a quarter in the transit of goods in its key transportation points.

Iran has reported an increase of about a quarter in the transit of goods in its key transportation points – a sign that may show the country’s trade activities are growing.

Figures released by Iran’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization (IRMTO) showed that above 4.17 million tonnes of goods had been moved through 32 active land and maritime borders over a period of five months from the start of the current Iranian calendar year (21 March 2017).

Accordingly, the IRMTO announced in a statement that the figure was higher than the same period last year by 24 percent.

The bulk of goods transported through border points included non-oil products such as fuel oil, textiles, auto parts and food products at a total volume of 2.78 million tonnes.

Oil products comprised around 1.22 million tonnes of total good transited through borders.

The IRMTO further added in its statement that Shaheed Rajaei Port in the southern city of Bandar Abbas remained Iran’s most important port through which 35 percent of the country’s total trade activities had taken place.

The next key transit points were Parviz Khan and Bazargan checkpoints that respectively open to Iraq’s Kurdistan region and Turkey’s east.

The volume of transportation of goods in those points comprised 20 percent and 10.4 percent of Iran’s total commercial activities.

The IRMTO further emphasized that figures show the transit of trucks from several neighboring countries through the Iranian territory had also increased over the same period.

It did not provide figures but said there had specifically been a surge in multi-modal truck movements from Iraq to the UAE, from the UAE to Afghanistan and from the UAE to Iraq – all through Iran’s soil.